State suspends license of Orlando marriage and family therapist, cites 'sexual misconduct'

September 7, 2011|By Eloísa Ruano González, Orlando Sentinel

The Florida Department of Health has suspended the license of an Orlando marriage and family therapist for what the state agency is calling sexual misconduct. Health officials said Aldo Ivan Rodriguez inappropriately touched two patients while working as a senior adult counselor for The Center for Drug-Free Living between 2008 and 2010.

The therapist is accused of rubbing the hands and thighs of a 28-year-old patient and touching her face during a counseling session. He also asked the woman, who was seeking therapy for an opioid dependence, about her "past sexual experiences," according the state's emergency suspension order. The woman was afraid to tell anyone about the incident, health officials said.

He's accused of rubbing a second patient's hands, legs and arms and running his fingers through her hair. Health officials said he also put his hands under the woman's shirt and on her stomach and "began to move his hands upward" until she pushed them away. He told the patient, who suffered bipolar disorder and alcohol and opioid abuse, that "she needed to learn that not all men wanted something from her and that he was trying to teach her 'good' touch," health officials said.

Rodriguez resigned from the center in January 2010 and went into a private practice. It wasn't until after his resignation that staff learned about the sexual misconduct, state health officials said. He met officials at the center a month later. He admitted to touching the patients, state health officials said.

He underwent a state evaluation this June. State officials said he "violated therapeutic boundaries" and should not see female patients on a one-to-one basis. State officials asked him to seek outpatient counseling and monitoring with the Professional Resource Network, but he failed to do so, according to the report.

Rodriguez could not be reached for comment. He's entitled to a hearing before a final decision on the case is rendered. A hearing has not been scheduled.